[eliben]

Not at all. I withheld this reaction N times before finally posting it. The project mentioned in an earlier comment (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1397300529/railsapp) is another example. I'm talking about programming projects in general (tutorials, new apps, libraries, toolchains) and not specifically how-to tutorials. Why participate in open-source if you can try to get real money for it on Kickstarter?

[bdcravens]

With all due respect, the idea that open source projects are always the result of free, volunteer work is a bit of a sheltered and idealistic view.

Open source projects with the most tractions are either sponsored, or someone is writing open source code as part of a job they're paid for. (a few examples: Rails, node.js, Linux, Vagrant ....)

For projects where that's not an option, crowdfunding is a good alternative.

Most "involved" in open source are consumers. Crowdfunding allows for involvement and support at a different level, and is totally consistent with the open source ethos. Open source is about freedom, not money.